Critic Reviews

I have to thank those who didn’t doubt Dragon Age: Origins Awakening for giving me the nudge and chance to play it. Because, although this expansion pack takes less than a quarter of the time required to complete the original story, it is exactly what his daddy should have been. Awakening is all about less bugs, fairer fights, missions whose briefing deserves to be read and some abilities that are designed to make your life easier. In addition, spanning over 25 hours of gameplay, the game has more to offer than most 50 euro titles on the market (although the price is a bit misleading, since you still require Dragon Age: Origins to play it).

In the end, this is a great DLC. For a fraction of the cost of a full game, you get what is really a complete title. Of course you can really appreciate it more, and all the inside jokes, if you have played Origins, but you don't need to, and that's the best way to put out a DLC. Awakening scores very highly for value. You pay very little, but get a whole lot. Now if March 2011 would only get here a little sooner.

Let's remove any confusion from the start. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening is not another piece of crappy DLC following the dismal inclusions we've seen since the BioWare RPG's release last November. This expansion is 25 hours of full-scale new content, essentially an entire new game, that picks up the story however you may have left it. It has a new setting, a (mostly) new crew of companions, new abilities, skills, spells and talents, and most importantly, a re-imagined approach that's appropriate to a shorter format while still achieving the necessary sense of scale.

Typically Bioware is forcing us to make judicious choices again, in the knowledge that we know Awakening will punish or reward us for them in future. The raised level cap and a couple of epic boss battles are the obvious new features of this expansion that everyone will look forward to, the great part about this expansion, as it gives the game a comforting open-world feel with a sense or real progression. Which is exactly what we look for in a good RPG.

Many will walk away from Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening with a definite feeling of familiarity. Nothing is strikingly different, and nothing is really any better. It's just more, and for some, that's more than enough. It's an expansion in the truest sense of the word, literally expanding on the experience of the first game without stepping on any toes and cheapening what the first accomplished. On top of that, it's bulkier than the average expansion pack, and while shorter than the original Dragon Age, it's still much longer than many full-priced titles. If the downloadable content released after launch was an example of how BioWare shouldn't handle the series in between retail releases, Awakening is a shining example of how to do it right, and one that will hopefully be continued in the future.

Dragon Age Origins is easily one of my favorite games of the last few years and I think that I love it for exactly the same reason that many other gamers can't stand it -- it's big, it's heavy on story, and it's unashamedly nerdy. So when the chance came to dive back into Ferelden with the Awakening expansion, it was a done deal for me. As long as BioWare didn't rock the boat too much, I was pretty much guaranteed to enjoy it. I'm happy to say that Awakening delivers more of the same stuff we loved the first time around. It has fun combat, a good story and great sense that your choices actually matter. There were a few features that just weren't as well developed as we'd hoped but once we dug into the content, we found it easy to forgive these faults.

Whilst worth playing, Dragon Age: Awakening’s lack of polish makes it disappointing in places. I highly recommend that anyone playing this game be prepared for a few frustrating sections, but at least it is worth the effort.

Besides introducing another great character to the Short List of Badass BioWare NPCs, Awakening adds five other party members (two per class total, and only one is a returning character from Origins); an increased level cap; several skills, specializations, and talents for said level cap; additional items (and tiers that indicate quality; Origins stopped at Tier 7, and you can now have Tier 9 items); new enemy types (including monsters that look like a cross between giant spiders and the monsters from Critters); and a 20-25 hour campaign. It's basically the Dragon Age 1.5 that you knew you'd be getting, as opposed to a, "you expected Dragon Age 2 but actually get Dragon Age 1.5" situation.

Still, when distilled down to its core, I did enjoy Awakening a little bit more than I did Origins. I found the focus in the story to be very strong, and I always felt like what I was doing was important or building towards some goal. Perhaps Origins would have benefitted from a bit more focus and less needless map screen marching, which still makes an appearance here but is far less annoying. I would love to describe and discuss the ending and my observations about the importance of the decisions you make within the game, but that would add far too many spoilers to a simple review (expect an upcoming blog discussion). Overall Awakening is an expensive but fun extension to a quality game and easily recommended to fans of the series.

That said, if you liked Origins you will like Awakenings. However, I don't think the asking price of $40, which isn't that much less than Origins itself, can completely justify itself. While it is a good time, it's a little short and not quite up to the standards set by its parent.

Of course, the point's the journey, really, and Awakening is another chunk of BioWare's story, characters, and above all else, dialogue. I paid $40 for it and don't feel terribly ripped off, but ideally, expansion packs should either cost less than this or last longer. It's fun, but I'm not sure it's forty bucks worth of fun.

Dragon Age Origins: Awakening is a great extention to the experience; there isn’t a doubt about that. However, it’s a great piece of content because it is simply a story, inventory and character expansion on the original title, which was already great. It falls a little on the short side, clocking in at around ten to fifteen hours, twenty if you’re a perfectionist. A fair warning to those of you who weren’t playing RPG games when they were primarily exclusive to PC gaming, this is not going to suddenly change the entire game for you; if you didn’t like Dragon Age Origins, you won’t like Awakening, but if you did, this should be right up your street.

They say you can't go home again, but whoever coined that old adage apparently wasn't talking about the realm of Ferelden. Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening returns you to this familiar and fair fantasy world, where degenerate demons called darkspawn have ravaged the land. The forces of evil may still lurk, but fans of 2009's wonderful Dragon Age will settle easily into the game's first full expansion pack, which harbors few surprises but delivers all the loot-happy adventuring that they'd expect. Awakening is not as exceptional as the main game; its story and characters make little impression, which is a disappointment compared to Dragon Age's splendid yarn. But in spite of some story frustrations and scattered bugs, Awakening is more of a terrific thing. It isn't a groundbreaking expansion, but it's an entertaining one that reminds us that if it isn't broken, there's no need to fix it.

Awakening isn't an expansion that'll convince Dragon Age sceptics to dip their toes in BioWare's fantasy universe. If Dragon Age didn't float your boat, neither will Awakening. Dragon Age enthusiasts, however, should consider it an essential purchase. It offers more of the same - no bad thing - in a great value package. With it, BioWare is honouring its commitment to its fans and making good on its pre-launch promise of treating Dragon Age as a platform. Just don't expect an evolution.

The Archdemon is dead, the Blight is quelled, and peace is restored to Ferelden. For a Grey Warden who specializes in saving the world, what else could you possibly accomplish? As a full expansion to Dragon Age: Origins, that’s the question Awakening is called upon to address. Unfortunately, the answer seems to be “not much.”

For a sequel that is about half of the original title, Awakening would have been more comfortably priced at $30; either that, or be given another year in production to expand into a full-fledged sequel. This isn’t to say it is rushed, but more that it is unpolished and unsure – too long for an epilogue, too short for a stand-alone title. Still, an enjoyable romp with an intriguing story can be found somewhere between the two, and you won’t have to be wide awake to see it.

As much as it does have a lot to offer, Dragon Age: Origins: Awakening, does feel like something of a misstep for Bioware. It’s a $40 expansion that offers upwards of 20 hours of gameplay –less than Origins, but more than most other full single-player games- and yet it doesn’t feel like a tremendous value. It has a satisfying story and a new cadre of interesting characters, but the whole of the experience made me feel like this expansion was rushed out the door without being given the usual Bioware polish.

While the game doesn't quite reach the heights the original did, in terms of overall story and characters there's enough here to keep fans more than happy with their purchase. It costs £19.99/$39.99/€29.99 on Steam and is worth every penny to series fans. You won't get the same amount of playtime as you did with Origins, but you'll still get about 30 hours worth including side-quests, which is more than most single player games of late. Despite the drawbacks, the gameplay is as solid as ever and just as tactical. The characters, while I personally didn't like them as much as my old gang, are likeable with good back stories, and the story itself is told well enough. Heartily recommended to series fans, maybe a wary purchase for newcomers.

When I had decapitated my last Darkspawn and earned the Awakening epilogue, I was forced to admit that the expansion just hadn't gripped me in any meaningful way. I wanted to relive the glory of the Origins campaign, to keep playing and remind myself of what a good game Dragon Age really was. I clicked on "New Game" and was immediately presented with a choice: Dragon Age: Origins or Awakening? I sincerely doubt that I will ever choose Awakening again.